When I first started playing the smash in padel I would invariably end up playing a flat smash that would either carry too far, and be out, or wouldn’t kick up enough to be able to clear the 3m side fence. I knew that I needed topspin to execute my smash better but couldn’t seem to get beyond my relatively ineffective flat smash. It turns out that I needed to pronate my wrist to achieve the topspin that I needed.
Pronation of the wrist in padel refers to the rotation of the wrist from a palm-up to a palm-down position. Pronating your wrist while playing the smash in padel gives you more power and generates more kick after the ball bounces.
Let’s take a closer look at what wrist pronation is and how to achieve it in the easiest way possible.
What Is Wrist Pronation In Padel
Wrist pronation in padel is when you play the forehand and you rotate your wrist in a way that turns your racket face from facing forward to facing down through the contact point with the ball.
This action of pronation on your forehand rolls the racket face over the ball through the area of contact and is what generates topspin on the ball. If you pronate your wrist on the backhand it will generate slice spin.
What Is Wrist Supination In Padel
Wrist supination in padel is when you play your forehand and you rotate your wrist in a way that pivots your racket face from facing forward to facing upward through the point of contact.
This action of supination on your forehand slides your racket face under the ball and generates slice spin. It is also what allows you to hit the ball upwards when playing a lob. Conversely, when you supinate your wrist when playing a backhand it will impart topspin onto the ball.
You use both pronation and supination in padel and you can do either irrespective of the height of the ball or whether you are playing forehand or backhand. Pronation and supination refer to the direction that your wrist pivots while playing the shot.
However, pronating a forehand shot when playing a very low ball will make it difficult to lift the ball enough to clear the net.
Pronation Of The Wrist In Padel Starts With The Right Grip
You need to use the continental grip when playing padel as it gives you the most mobility of your wrist. This, in turn, gives you the ability to point your racket in different directions from the same shot, giving you the option to change the direction of your shots easily. I wrote a detailed article about how to hold your padel racket and you can find that here.
Consequences Of Not Pronating When Playing The Smash In Padel
If you are using the correct, continental padel grip to hold your racket then you will end up hitting the ball with the spine/frame of the racket if you do not pronate your wrist. What many players do in this situation is change their grip to the tennis forehand grip in order to have their racket face pointing forward as they smash. This often feels easier than pivoting your wrist while playing a smash.
The trouble with changing grip is it gets you in the habit of constantly hitting a flat smash just like I used to do. Learning to pronate your wrist gives you the versatility to make changes to your smash to better control the direction of your smash as you improve as a padel player.
This is something that you won’t be able to do if you change your grip to play the flat smash. You will be locked into a single racket face position.
Pronating also allows you to generate more racket head speed through the point of contact with the ball.
How To Practice Wrist Pronation For Padel
The easiest practice drill for getting the feel of pronating your wrist is to stand close to the glass, throw up a ball against the glass, and catch/trap the ball between your racket face and the glass while keeping your continental grip for the entire time.
The great part about this drill is that you don’t need to be on a padel court to practice pronating your wrist. You can do this against any wall that is high enough to trap the ball between the racket face and the wall above your head.
Once you have a good sense of constantly trapping the ball against the wall you can move on to the second drill. This drill also doesn’t need a padel court.
Step back from the wall and repeat the same action that you did while standing against the wall.
Toss a ball up in the air and play a soft smash to bounce before the wall. You want to control the direction of your smash so that the ball comes back parallel straight towards you.
If you are new to pronating your wrist you will likely start by slicing the ball off to the left if you are a right-handed player. Left-handed players will likely slice the ball to the right.
Just keep practicing and eventually, the ball will come straight back to you.
Common Errors Preventing Wrist Pronation In Padel
The single most common error that will prevent you from pronating your wrist in padel is to change your grip when playing a smash. This happens in one of two ways.
The first is more subtle and is what I used to do. I stand at the net with my racket out in front of me, ready for a volley. As I see the lob coming to me I step back for my smash. As I would begin to take my racket back for the smash I would shift my grip, plat a flat smash and shift my grip back after the follow-through. It wasn’t until I saw a video clip of what I was doing that my error came into my awareness.
The second way this common error manifests is when a beginner player has become set in their ways with the bad habit of using the wrong grip for their smash. They will then try wrist pronation and when they can’t get it right on the first or second try they consciously revert back to what worked for them before in spite of it hampering their progress.
So, get practicing and improve the control that you have over the ball during all types of smash by incorporating wrist pronation into your game.